SongTower vs. Kestrel

I am thinking about moving from my Meadowlark Kestrel Hotrods to the SongTower. Does anyone have any experience with both of these speakers. I really like my Kestrels but think they are not enough for my 13 x 24 ft. room.

That's a decent size room. The ST's would be fine but you go even bigger in there. I didn't realize how physically small the Kestrals were. Peruse the Salk web site for speakers like HT2's or Supercharged ST's or hold on for what may be a new 3 way coming. I would say the Song3's would be too small for that space unless it is an intimate set-up.

What is your budget?Will the space be a dedicated listening space or a multi-functional space and you won't be sitting 8 feet away from the speakers?

I have a pair of Supercharged Songtowers for sale - asking $2,700 OBO. They are in excellent condition and are curly cherry in a reddish brown. They have been in my large basement HT (24 x 28 x 8.5). They sound great in there with music. They need a sub for HT (I have a Rythmik FV15HP). I am sure they would sound good in your room.

Larger can be better (like the suggested SS8s) - but more expensive.

Check out the audio circle trading post for my speakers an others for sale.

Call Jim, if you want to know what he thinks will work in your room. He knows them best.

I am thinking about moving from my Meadowlark Kestrel Hotrods to the SongTower. Does anyone have any experience with both of these speakers. I really like my Kestrels but think they are not enough for my 13 x 24 ft. room.

Yes, I think SongTowers would be a noticeable improvement over your present speakers. I've owned SongTowers since 2007, and in the past year stepped up to Veracity ST speakers. I've heard Kestrels in stores in the past. I thought their mid range and higher were good, but they lacked bass (and I'm not a heavy bass freak). I don't remember what details were different between the standard Kestrel and the Kestrel Hotrods, but if I recall, the Kestrel claimed a transmission line cabinet design, but despite that, they lacked bass. The SongTowers will do much better with that. In addition, they have superb sound and imaging across the mid range and treble.

My listening room is similar sized to yours, about 15×25 feet. If you drive STs with amps in the 100-150 wpc (rated at 8 ohms) range, they will easily fill a room of your size.

My room is a common space, living/dining and is approximately 13x20 with nearly 9' ceilings. I have Songtowers driven by a Rogue Sphinx and they sound wonderful. They play plenty loud, and I like loud, but they also sound terrific at lower volumes as the sound remains very full and balanced. They make terrific bass but are not bass heavy or bloated at all. These are some of the best speakers I've heard and I've heard some really nice speakers, and it's safe to say they are my favorite audio purchase in many years in this hobby.

This is a very interesting topic as I have been using Kestrel HRs off and on since 2005 and have been looking at the Songtowers. The big difference is my listening room is literally half the size of the OPs. I'm concerned the Songtowers would be too large for my room.

I love what I hear through the Kestrels. The only weakness to my ear is a lack of "sparkle." That said, the Kestrels have vanquished some very stiff competition in my room. One of the things I love about the Kestrels is how much sound they produce for their compact size.

I initially tried my SongTowers in a 10 x 11 room. Not a good fit. Bass was bloated unless you moved them well into the room. Then of course, they were so close to the listening position, they called attention to themselves. In my HT/casual listening set-up in a room double that size, they perform beautifiully. Bass is tight /full and they do a very nice disappearing act.

Even with critical listening, I believe individual rooms together with listener preferences drive speaker/room/listener compatibility...not the absolute size of the room or speakers. I have a pair of large, 3-way Aerial Acoustic speakers in a 10x11 untreated room and dearly love what they produce. I hesitated to even attempt this setup initially, but was very pleasantly surprised by the results. Very!

I also have a 23x27 room and my Philharmonic Phil 2's (similar in size and output to the AA's), out in the room, bass traps, etc....sing beautifully there, too.

And so as not to get too far off topic, let me toss out a personal rave for all things Salk. In our big GTG out here on the Oregon Coast, we were privileged to enjoy and compare 4 different Salk speakers. Here are 3 of them in a 13x19 room...all sounding wonderful (ESPECIALLY the very large SoundScape 12s, as any of the 50 attendees will attest to) ... The SongTowers were wonderful and performed way over their price range...at least the speaker price range that I was familiar with. And certainly were superior to the Kestrels I had heard in output and clarity.

It's my belief that you can't go too large with speakers for that room of yours. I'd get the largest (within reason) speakers you can afford. And if you want forever speakers, go with anything made by Jim Salk or designed by Dennis Murphy.

Thanks for all the nice words. One note--the only thing the AA's and Phil 2's have in common is a black cabinet. The AA's are small monitors. The 2's were large enough to antagonize dozens of spouses. They were just slightly smaller than the Phil 3's.

One note--the only thing the AA's and Phil 2's have in common is a black cabinet. The AA's are small monitors.

I believe when Mudslide was referring to the "AA"s, he was referring to his "large, 3-way Aerial Acoustic speakers", not your Affordable Accuracy/Pioneer SP-BS22-LR monitors*. * Edit: or Affordable Accuracy/Dayton Audio BR-1 monitors